Looking for information on grammar school consortiums?
We’ve compiled a list of grammar school consortiums by UK region. You'll find links to useful information to help you through the 11 plus admissions process, and tips to help your child prepare for the 11 plus exam in your area.
Contents
What is a consortium?
A consortium is a group of two or more grammar schools that work together on the application process. Schools in a consortium use the same 11 plus test, exam dates and exam provider. The aim is to reduce the number of tests your child must sit to be considered for any of the grammar schools in an area.
Find your nearest grammar school
East England
Essex
There are 11 grammar schools in Essex. The following 10 schools are all within the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE), which provides its own bespoke 11 plus papers.
Chelmsford County High School is the only grammar school in Essex which is not a member of the CSSE. This school creates its own 11 plus test and has a separate admissions process.
Hertfordshire
There are many grammar schools in Hertfordshire. Some are fully-selective (meaning that all of their pupils are selected based on academic ability), while some are partially-selective (only a small proportion of their intake are selected based on entrance exams).
All of the fully-selective grammar schools in Hertfordshire are members of the South West Herts Schools Consortium:
These schools use a mixture of test providers, using both GL Assessment and individual schools’ own tests.
Bishop’s Stortford High School, Chancellor’s School, Dame Alice Owen’s School, Goffs Academy, Hertfordshire and Essex High School, Hockerill Anglo-European College and John Warner School are partially-selective schools.
London
London Borough of Barnet
The grammar schools in Barnet use a mixture of GL Assessment and their own test papers.
London Borough of Bexley
The grammar schools in Bexley have previously used CEM as their exam provider. This is likely to change for entry in 2024 and beyond.
London Borough of Bromley
The two grammar schools in Bromley use different 11 plus tests. Newstead Wood School uses GL Assessment and St Olave’s Grammar School has a bespoke eligibility test.
Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames
Both grammar schools in Kingston-upon-Thames use GL Assessment for their first round of testing, and school-created papers for their second stage test.
London Borough of Redbridge
The two Redbridge grammar schools have previously used CEM as their exam provider. This is likely to change for entry in 2024 and beyond.
London Borough of Sutton
The five fully-selective grammar schools in Sutton use a GL Assessment for the first round of testing, and school-written papers for their second round tests. Their 11 plus exam is known as the Surrey Selective Eligibility Test (SET). A sixth grammar school, Greenshaw High School, is partially-selective.
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The Midlands
Birmingham
The Birmingham Grammar School Consortium uses GL Assessment to administer 11 plus tests in the area.
Lincolnshire
The Lincolnshire Consortium schools use the GL Assessment exam provider.
Shropshire, Walsall, and Wolverhampton
Grammar schools within the areas of Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton belong to the SWW Consortium. They use GL Assessment for their 11 plus tests.
Shropshire, Walsall & Wolverhampton 11 plus
Warwickshire
Consisting of five schools, the Warwickshire Grammar Schools Consortium now uses GL Assessment for their 11 plus exam provider. They previously used CEM for a number of years.
North West England
Lancashire
There are four grammar schools in Lancashire and they use GL Assessment.
Liverpool & Wirral
Having previously used CEM, the grammar schools on the Wirral now use GL Assessment as their exam provider. Four out of the seven schools use the GL test:
The remaining three schools in the area use their own testing systems:
Trafford (Greater Manchester)
The grammar schools in Greater Manchester are all within the Trafford area. From 2023, they will be using GL Assessment to administer their 11 plus tests.
There are two grammar schools in Manchester that use other tests:
South East England
Berkshire
The grammar schools in Berkshire are spread between the large towns of Reading and Slough. The 11 plus process is different for each area.
The grammar schools in Slough belong to the Slough Consortium. They all use GL Assessment to administer their 11 plus exams.
Kendrick School and Reading School have different testing processes. A third grammar school in Reading – Reading Girls' School – is partially-selective, meaning that only a small proportion of the Year 7 intake is selected based on academic ability.
Buckinghamshire
The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools Consortium uses GL Assessment as their exam provider. Unusually, Buckinghamshire uses an opt-out system; every child in a Buckinghamshire primary school is automatically registered for the 11 plus test, unless a parent states otherwise.
Kent
Kent has more grammar schools than any other county in the UK. 32 grammar schools are located within the Kent Council local authority and use an 11 plus test known as the Kent Test.
Kent Council
Medway Council
A further six grammar schools in Kent are located within the Medway Council local authority. These schools use GL Assessment as their 11 plus testing provider.
South West England
Devon
There are seven grammar schools in Devon. These grammar schools are in different local authority areas:
Devon County Council
Plymouth City Council
Torbay Council
Dorset
There are four selective grammar schools that make up the Dorset Consortium. The consortium uses GL Assessment to administer 11 plus tests in the area.
Budmouth Academy and Poole High School are partially-selective schools.
Gloucestershire
The seven grammar schools in Gloucestershire all use the same 11 plus test, administered by GL Assessment.
Wiltshire
There are two selective grammar schools in Wiltshire. Both schools use GL Assessment for their 11 plus exams.
Yorkshire
The grammar schools in Yorkshire are located in three separate local authorities:
Calderdale
Kirklees
North Yorkshire
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